Method and apparatus for continuous crimping of textile yarns



July 2, V1968 H. EPSTEIN 3,390,438 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSCRIMPING 0F TEXTILE YARNS Filed oct. 15. 196s 2 sheets-snee@ 1 xNvENToRHERMAN IQTZN 465km." MU( T A T RN July 2, 1968-v H. EPSTEIN METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CRIMPING OF TEXTILE YARNS 2 Sheets-Sheet FiledOct. l", 1963 FIG. Z.

HIGH POINT OF RESISTANCE CORE OF CRIMPED YARN TRANSPARENT GRNIT SIDE'FOR STORAGE COOLING 8. CONDITIONING INVENTOR a HERMAN EPSTEIN JWATToRNEY.

United States Patent O 3,390,438 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSCRIMPING F TEXTILE YARNS Herman Epstein, 39 Bailey Ave., Hillside, NJ.07205 Filed Oct. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 316,379 Claims. (Cl. 2S-1) ABSTRACT0F THE DISCLOSURE It is an object of this invention to providecontinuous crimping by initially feeding the filament to be crimped intoa predetermined straight line upward direction, accumulating andcrimping said filament in a predetermined area thereafter along a pathof feeding gradually deviating from the initial direction of feeding tobecome vertically downward so that the filament becomes subjected togravity control.

This invention relates to the continuous crimping of textile yarn,especially in the form of synthetic filaments or group of filamentswhich are to be crimped with a minimum of operations and devices,whether such operations and devices are automatically or manuallycontrolled.

It is an object of this invention to provide continuous crimping byinitially feeding the filament to be crimped into a predeterminedstraight line upward direction, accumulating and crimping said filamentin a predetermined area thereafter along a path of feeding graduallydeviating from the initial direction of feeding to become verticallydownward so that the filament becomes subjected to gravity control.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a prolonged pathof accumulation of crimped material in a curved shape in which theaccumulation of crimped material emerging from the crimping point is soshaped, as first to extend substantially in the same direction as thedirection of feeding at entry or prior to crimping, and thereafterdeviating from this direction and preferably assuming a directionopposite to the direction of entry.

Another object of the invention is to make at least a terminatingportion of such a curved accumulation of crimped elements, transparentso as to permit an observer or operator to visualize the density of thecrimped accumulation and, depending upon such density observation, toadjust the speed or velocity of the filament or filaments prior tocrimping or before entering the path of accumulation following thecrimping point.

Still another object of the invention is to produce crimping by feedingthe filament or filaments to the crimping point in a vertically upwarddirection, and to shape the path of accumulation of crimped materialfollowing that crimping point in such a way that such accumulationextends first in the same direction as the feeding direction andthereafter is curved or turned around at least by an angle of 180 so asto cause the filament or filaments emerging from this curved path ofaccumulation to feed in a direction opposite to the direction of entry.

As a further specific object of this invention, the path of feeding thefilament at the termination or exit of the accumulation of crimpedmaterial is further shaped curvedly so as to extend into a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of feeding at enry.

These and other objects of the invention will be more fully apparentfrom the drawings annexed hereto, in which Fice FIG. 1 illustratesschematically certain principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention in greater detail.

FIG. 3 shows in cross-section part of the crimping mechanism shown inFIG. 2 in cross-section perpendicular to the view shown in FIG. 2.

As schematically indicated in FIG. 1, the yarn 1 is drawn from package 2through guide 3 over and around grooved rollers 4 by feed rollers 5 and6. Yarn 1 is then crimped by being forced by rollers S, 6 upward intotube 7, consisting 0f Teflon or having an inner coating of Teflon, wherethe crimped yarn is accumulated, taking the form of a cylinder 8, whichis called a core.

From there, cylinder 8 travels through another tube 9, consisting ofTeon or having an inner coating of Tefion, past its high point ofresistance at 10 and through its gravity to controlled portion 11 toslub catcher consisting of metal clip 12, which fiattens the Teflon tube9 at that position which is preferably transparent, to catch core 8 andprevents it from going any further.

Depending on the pull from take-up coil 13, any tangles (slubs) that mayhave formed by the heat are pulled out, due to broken filament conditionof the yarn at the point of crimp. From slub catcher clip 12, thecrimped yarn 12' travels to a flattened orifice formed at the end ofTeflon or Teflon coated tube 9 and thence to ball bearing rollers 15.Rollers 15 are free rolling and not in a fixed bearing position. Theyare designed to have enough resistance to catch and hold a yarn tanglelong enough to allow the pulling out of the entanglement withoutbreaking the yarn.

If the tangled yarn is too hard to be pulled out, the force of the pullwill lift top roller 15 and allow the tangle to go through to the finaltake-up coil 13 to be taken out in subsequent twisting or back windingprocesses. This avoids excessive breakage and further entanglements dueto shirring or pushing back of broken filaments due to holding springand gate tensions.

From rollers 15, yarn 12' travels over a spring tensioned wire 16, whichactuates a micro switch (not shown) in case of a break in yarn 12 whileit is being wound onto take-up package 12. If such a break occurs, itwill actuate in otherwise well known manner switches and solenoids (notshown) to shut off the motor or motors (also not shown) which drive thefeed rolls 5 and 6 and the final take-up coil 13. From wire 16, yarn 12travels underneath a tension rod 17 over oil roller 18 through guide 19onto take-up coil 13.

In this arrangement, all tensions through which yarn 12 operates ortravels are designed to carry the yarn over grooved rollers and theserollers are, in turn, so disposed as to produce the necessary tension.Any gripping tensions such as `gate or disc type elements tend to causethe outer or broken filaments to be shirred or pushed back. This causestangles and slubs in the crimping, which in turn cause excessivebreakage, entanglements, and a loopy filament condition of the yarn inthe final package, which is avoided in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 shows the invention wherein housing 20, shown to supportrotatable shaft 21, to which feed roller 22 is attached, which is drivenby gear (not shown) and motor mechanism, and otherwise well known in theart. This gear mechanism meshes with another similar gear (also notshown) which is secured to shaft 23, journaled in swing arm 24, andsecured to feed roller 25, Arm 24 is pivoted to housing 20 and has asuitable projection 26 to receive a hooked rod 27 on which apredetermined Weight 28 is suspended in a manner similar to thatdiscussed with respect to FIG. l. Weight 28 is of such a size as isnecessary to grip yarn 20. Yarn is fed into a crimping tube 30.

Tube 30 is suitably heated by a number of spaced elements 31 or otherheating means. These heating elements are housed in two .semi-circularchambers 32. Actuating chambers 32 are shown in cross-section in FIG. 3in greater detail. As apparent from FIG. 3, heating chambers 32 arehinged at 33 and held together by a ball and spring lock at 34. Chambers32 have a refractory lining 35 which is sufficient to preventtroublesome heat losses.

Chambers 32 are opened by pulling on knobs 36 that are coated with amaterial (not shown) that will keep them cool enough for handling and toplace chambers 32 into open positions shown by dotted lines 37. in thisopen position of chambers 32, heat is taken away from tube 30 wheneverthe movement of the yarn is stopped and whenever it is necessary toretie a break which was caused by a slubbed or fused crimped yarn. Atthe same time, the movement of feeding of yarn is stopped, to insure asmuch heat as possible, and also to insure quick return to normal heat;heating elements 31 remain energized and baffles 27 retain heat with theleast loss at the small center opening.

As apparent from FIG. 2, the crimped yarn schematically indicated at 29passing heating chambers 32 travels up into a specially formed tubing 39extending into the form of a ring 4t). Ring 40 is sutiicientlytransparent to see how much crimped yarn is stored after emerging fromstorage tube 39 in the form of a single end of crimped yarn derived fromthe squeezed portion 39 of ring 4Q. During its downward movement, yarn41 is cooled and conditioned. At 42, lubricating oil 43 is drip fedthrough an orice 44 at a predetermined rate. Oil 43 is held in areservoir 44 .suitably mounted on bracket 45 by band 46 and screws 47.Oil 43 enters through opening 48 into tubing 49 and 36A discharge end oftube 49. Tubing 49 is slightly beveled at its end at 50 to insure theiiow of oil 41 around the tube joint. When the crimped yarn reaches axed point in discharge tube 49, the take-up is started manually. Theyarn is then pulled at 39 through the iiattened orifice 51 ofterminating tube 4% by take-up means similar to those shown anddescribed with respect to FIG. l at a speed .slightly greater than it isfed by feed rollers 22 and 25.

In this Way, the crimped yarn in storage is slightly reduced so that theoutput is greater than the input. As soon as the operator sees that thecrimped yarn has emptied from the gravity side of tube 36 to apredetermined mark, the operator stops the take-up operation until thefeed rolls 22 and 25 fili the gravity side of tube 36 with sufficientstorage material -so that the supply to the takeup means is maintainedconstantly from the gravity side and not from the resistance side oftube 49. Otherwise, if the supply were varied or taken from theresistance side of the mechanism, the bulk or elasticity of the crimpedyarn would vary.

Under these circumstances, in accordance with the invention, qualitycontrol is maintaining a simple and relatively unskilled manualoperation of stopping and starting the take-up mechanism to keep thestorage and gravity side of tube 36 sufficiently full until the take-uppackage is completed.

In an alternative method of keeping sufiicient storage crimped yarn forthe take-up package, at the gravity side of tube 36, feed rolls 22 and25 are driven by an individual motor and voltage control.

In accordance with the invention, in order to regulate speed anddelivery rate of crimped yarn to the gravity side of tube 36, thiscontrol, and thereby quality control, can be assured manually wheneverthe operator sees the need for decrease or increase of the predeterminedquantity on the gravity side of tube 49.

While the invention has been shown and described on specific shapes,types, and arrangement of elements, it is not limited thereto, but maybe applied in any form or manner whatsoever without departing from thescope of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. In a method for crimping textile fibers in the form of at least onelament, the steps of initially feeding the filament to be crimped into apredetermined straight line upward direction, accumulating and crimpingSaid ilament by pushing it against the accumulated iilament in apredetermined area, and moving the accumulated filament under control ofthe pushing force of the feeding filament along a path graduallydeviating from the initial direction of feeding to become verticallydownward so that the accumulated filament becomes subject to gravitycontrol.

2. Method according to claim 1 wherein said path of accumulationincludes a curve.

3. Method according to claim 1 wherein said path of deviation includes asemi-circular path and wherein the filament emerging from said path isfed along a further curve into a direction perpendicular to the Saidinitial direction.

4. Method according to claim 1 wherein said initial direction of feedingextends vertically upward and the direction of emergence from saiddeviation is vertically downward, and wherein the filament emerging fromsaid accumulation is guided through a further curved part following saiddeviation and extending in a direction perpendicular to said initialdirection.

5. In a crimping machine for textile filaments, means for feeding atleast one filament in a predetermined straight line upward direction,straight tubular means of a predetermined cross-section arrangedvertically upward above said feeding means so as to permit the filamentsto be accumulated therein when emerging from said feeding means so as tooifer resistance to the following filament, causing said filament to becrimped, curved tubular means of a cross-section substantially largerthan the cross-section of said straight tubular means, and followingsaid straight tubular Imeans to change the direction of saidaccumulation of filament so as to become vertically downward andsubjected to gravity control, said curved tubular means being at leastpartially transparent to permit observation of said accumulation, andsaid feeding means being adjustable under control of an operatorobserving said visible accumulation.

6. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said curved tubular means is ofsemi-circular shape.

7. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said straight tubular means hasa wall consisting at least partially of Teflon.

8. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said curved tubular means has awall consisting at least partially of Teflon.

9. In a crimping `machine for textile filaments, means for feeding atleast one filament in a predetermined straight line upward direction,straight tubular means of a predetermined cross-section arrangedvertically upward above said feeding means so as to permit the filamentto be accumulated therein when emerging from said feeding means so as tooffer resistance to the following iilament, causing said lament to becrimped, curved tubular means of a cross-section substantially largerthan the cross-section of said straight tubular Imeans following saidtubular means to change the direction therein of said accumulation offilament, said straight tubular means being arranged verticallyextending above said feeding means, and Said curved tubular means beingarranged reversing the direction of filament accumulation so that thefilament emerging from that curved tubular means is subjected to gravitycontrol, and further tubular means following said curved tubular meansfor leading out of said accumulation into a direction substantiallyperpendicular to said straight line tubular means.

5 10. Machine according to claim 9 wherein said further 2,575,838 curvedtubular means includes means for separating at 2,760,252 least onelament from another. 2,820,983 2,950,520 References Cited 5 3,166,820;UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,096,562 7/1963 Russo et al. 28-72 3,284,86811/1966 Langway et a1. 28-72 6 Raimard 28-72 Shattuck 28-1 Wegener 28-72Sonnino 28-64 Taul et al.

LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner.

